Infinity Chronicles Book Two, page 11
Sitting forward, I cover my face with my hands. “Wait, just wait a second. It was because we were…” I can’t bring myself to say making out, it seems way too juvenile, but I don’t know what else to call it. “Kissing and stuff,” I finish.
Ollie sits up next to me, all traces of laughter gone from his voice as he says, “It’s more than that, you have to have a true desire to connect, to bond, but yes, part of the process is physical.”
I peek through my fingers looking at Ares when he asks, “Do you regret it?” He looks down, his eyes going back and forth like he’s seeing something I can’t. He sounds hurt.
I drop my hands, letting him see my face. “Ares, I did something to you without even understanding what it was. It terrified me that I hurt you and that you would hate me. I don’t regret it, couldn’t if I tried. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still a little scared.”
Ares comes over and crawls into bed. “I can deal with that.”
When Dante and Milo come in a few minutes later they pause at the doorway. Milo’s eyes jump around avoiding the bed. It almost feels like we walked in on them in the middle of a conversation. “Hey,” I call out, hoping to ease the tension.
Dante walks into the room, a big bowl of buttery popcorn in his hands. “Movie?” he offers, and I nod, grateful for the normalcy.
Milo shuffles his feet like he doesn’t know what to do. “Thank you for helping cover my shift Milo.” He looks up at me then, his blue eyes watching me.
After a long second he nods. “No problem, it was nice to see Gran and Gus.” He’s here and talking, but something feels off.
“Oh, good.” I fold my arms over my stomach and look away from him. Maybe he’s mad at me for the Ares situation. There’s a distance between us and remembering this morning in the car, I turn to face Ares.
“Gloria knew about us.” It’s not a question.
“Yeah,” Ares answers anyway.
“Well if she knows, and Maggie knows, why can’t we tell Milo’s parents?” My eyes move over to Milo, who had finally made his way into the room. His steps halt and he turns to look at me with an expression of downright shock on his face.
Ares's head follows my line of sight. “I guess we could tell all our parents.” Ares holds up his hand when Ollie makes a whooping sound. “But we need to make sure they understand that this isn’t something we can celebrate.” My neck snaps in his direction. Ares sighs and corrects, “I didn’t mean it like that. I meant that they need to keep the information to themselves… for now.”
Milo’s face is split into a wide grin when I turn to face him again. His eyes bouncing around between all of us. “Do you want to call your parents?” I question, happy that Milo’s spirits seem to have lifted, but nervous about what it might mean.
“They’re picking me up tomorrow, we can tell them then.” Butterflies assault my stomach. Dante rubs his hand over my thigh and I wonder if he knows how freaked out I am. “We can all go to Columbia tomorrow. I only have two tickets for the banquet, but we can hang out before and after,” Milo continues, his voice laced with excitement.
I plaster a smile on my face, but on the inside my thoughts are spiraling out of control. I have to meet his parents tomorrow, and eventually I’ll have to meet Ollie’s parents, and Dante and Ares’s. What if they don’t like me, what if they think I’m not good enough? Clearly, we don’t have the same backgrounds—I didn’t even know about the existence of Infinites until I met them.
I slide my butt lower on the bed and fall backwards, how the hell am I going to make it through this? What will they think about there being five of us? Dante told me that there aren’t any other pairings that have as many as we do. Using my inner elbow, I cover my eyes as I fight off the headache that is settling over the bridge of my nose.
The guys all continue talking about the weekend. Ares agrees easily to go, even saying it would probably be best to get away for a few days, especially after everything that happened with Mia tonight.
I block them out soon after. There isn’t anything to be done about meeting their families. It’s something I knew would happen eventually, I just hadn’t realized how comfortable I’d gotten with the idea of pushing the prospect off to a much later date.
Dante cuddles up to my side soon after, his face wiggling under my arm so he’s nuzzling his face next to mine. I let out a weighty sigh and my fingers brush along his hair, reminding me of the tiger he turned into just yesterday. I stroke behind his ear and he arches into my touch. “What does it feel like when you change?” My voice is soft.
Dante pauses his movements. “I still feel like me, but just a more basic me. My thoughts are simpler, but they're still my thoughts.” I nod, that sounds good about right now, I’d love to be able to let my insecurities go.
“Does it hurt when you change?” I know my questions might be intrusive, but I can’t seem to help myself either.
Dante doesn’t seem to mind as he settles in closer to me. Turning on his side so his mouth is near my ear, he wraps his arm around my waist. It feels like we’re having an intimate conversation, even though we aren’t alone. “No, it doesn’t hurt. When I’m about to change I get this restlessness. Like I can feel the fur under my skin.”
I turn to face him, our noses inches from each other. “Do you know, once when you touched me, before all this, I thought I felt fur? We were in art class,” I pause, my eyes going to the thick leather strap he wears around his wrist. My fingers go to the little bit of uncovered darkness I can see. I peer back up at him. “I remember seeing this, I wanted to know what was under here so badly that I almost couldn’t stop myself from touching you.”
Dante’s eyes close, and when they reopen the amber of his eyes has gotten brighter. I let my fingers dance along his arm, but I can’t stay away from the mark we all share for long. My fingers itch to explore it. The bed shifts as the others move about, getting comfortable. I don’t take my eyes off Dante. “Why do you hide this?”
Dante shrugs. “I don’t know, I guess it’s because everyone else’s marks are covered, it feels private. Like it’s not for everyone.”
“What about me?” My question is bold, but I can’t take it back. “Is it for me?” I pull the closure of the band, loosening it before he even answers.
Dante swallows and his eyes are wide. “Yes, yours.” His voice is gravely. I strip away the thick band as I keep my eyes locked on his. My palm covers his mark. Dante’s eyes fall closed again before he snaps them open and his lips part. A heady sense of power fills me, not the power of Dante sharing his abilities with me, it’s more like I have a power over him, like he would never tell me no, not to anything.
Bringing his wrist up, I kiss his mark and Dante gasps, his eyes blown wide. I place his hand down right between us and inch closer to him, so he’s tucked into my body. Wrapping my arm over his back, I cuddle him close and let my eyes fall closed. It’s barely ten o’clock on a Friday, but I’m exhausted. I don’t have the energy left to worry about tomorrow and what new challenges it might bring.
Chapter 10
“Can you grab me more eggs?” I peer over my shoulder, Dante and Milo are both in the kitchen with me. Ares and Ollie were still sleeping when I got up, but Milo was already awake and showered. My stirring woke Dante, so I decided to make us all breakfast. I’m not great in the kitchen, I’ve never had the seemingly limitless supplies that come along with the Costa house, but making the basics is easy enough.
Milo shuffles over with a new carton of eggs in hand. Stepping up close, he looks over my shoulder as I crack a few more eggs into the large mixing bowl. After a dash of pepper and a big pinch of salt, I push the bowl aside. “What time are we meeting your parents?” Dante asks, his tone light, and why shouldn’t it be? He doesn’t have any reason to be freaking out, it’s not like he’ll be the one meeting them for the first time today.
The spatula slips from my fingers, clanging on the counter. “Sorry,” I mutter, more to myself, before nabbing it back up to turn over the round sausage patties in the skillet on the stove.
“They’ll be here around noon,” Milo answers as he walks back over to the island and takes a seat next to Dante.
My eyes leap to the digital clock on the microwave—that’s only in a few hours. I still need to shower and figure out what to wear. I take a calming breath, blowing it out unnecessarily slow. I clear my throat, hoping all my doubts and insecurities won’t be obvious. “Are we coming back tonight?”
“That was the plan, but I’m not sure now. What do you think?” I expect to hear Dante answer, but he doesn’t. I turn to face Milo, realizing that his question is directed at me.
“Uh…” I puff out my cheeks. “Should we ask the guys?” I don’t know the right answer, I know Milo probably wants to see his family, but would we all be able to stay together like we have been? The thought of spending the night alone in a strange hotel room has me wringing my hands. Dante tilts his head, his eyes running over me.
“We’ll ask them when they get up,” Milo confirms. I turn back to face the pans on the stove. The rest of the sausage is just about ready, so I pour the eggs into the skillet and begin slowly stirring them with the silicone spatula.
It’s like the smell of food wakes the others. Ollie comes shuffling into the kitchen, his hair hanging around his shoulders, and low slung flannel pajama pants hanging off his hips. Long lean lines of muscles rope up his torso. He doesn’t have the slab of abdominals that Ares has, but his chest and stomach are no less appealing because of it. His eyes are a little puffy with sleep, like he didn’t even really wake up before coming out. He looks positively adorable.
Ares steps up behind him, his dark hair made darker because it’s still wet. He’s dressed in a fitted black button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, exposing his tanned forearms. His tawny brown eyes search the room until they land on mine. Heat rises in my cheeks for no other reason than he looked at me. I focus my gaze back on breakfast, stirring the eggs slowly as they begin to congeal.
“You’re making food?” Ollie comes over and he places his chin on my shoulder, his hands going to either side of my waist. I nod, biting my lip. The air is suddenly thicker, all four of them are here, and I’m a little overwhelmed.
We haven’t had much time to be all alone together. In the evening, after work, when we’re all in the room it’s different. It’s like I’ve come to know what to expect, but this is somewhat new. There’s a new dynamic happening, one where we don’t always have to hide, and the guys are starting to change. I can feel it in the way they look at me, Ollie has always been free with his affections, and since yesterday I’ve felt a closeness to Dante that wasn’t there before. And I can’t even think about Ares without flames licking my insides.
I swat Ollie's hand with my spatula as he reaches for a sausage patty on a paper towel lined dish. “Hey!” He smirks and brings the corner of his knuckle to his lips with a grin. He sucks the side of his finger into his mouth and pouts. I can’t pull my gaze away. Ollie drags his knuckle over his mouth, tugging his lip down as he does. Boys’ lips have no right being that full and pouty, and my teeth sink into my lower lip as I force myself to pay attention to the hardening eggs in the pan.
“Can someone grab plates?” My voice comes out raspier than usual. I let my eyes close, pretending I didn’t just sound like I was trying out for a phone sex operator position. Ollie steps away from me, his hands lingering as he does so.
As soon as he’s gone, Ares invades my space. I don’t know how he can make himself so much more intrusive than Ollie, but he manages it with ease. He slinks up behind me and his solid frame hovers just millimeters from mine. Ares’s hands are much more possessive and he wraps them over my shoulders, coming around to the front of my neck. When his thumb brushes along a tender spot, I remember the love bites he left me last night. He hasn’t spoken yet, but my body sinks into his. All thoughts of the others seeing us falls away. A feeling of contentment I didn’t know I was missing settles over me. “Mornin,” he breathes, running his hand up the column of my throat, causing my head to fall back against his chest. Ares kisses my temple, and then the corner my mouth. I hum my response.
The sound of plates hitting the granite counter jolts me and I open my eyes, unaware I’d even closed them. I slide the pan over to a burner that isn’t hot to stop the cooking process. I know the moment I turn around my whole face will be beet red, even my ears are hot.
Taking a step away from Ares, I busy myself getting the rest of the sausage from the pan. Thankfully, the oven beeps moments later and I bend down to retrieve the cookie sheet filled with canned biscuits. I had planned to make a quick white gravy, but I’m way too flustered, and my hands are shaking as I place the pan on top of the wooden trivet.
Taking a few steps back, I look over the simple breakfast, and a sense of accomplishment settles over me. I did this, not because I had to, but because I could and I wanted to. I spin on my heel, my lip pinched between my teeth. “Food’s ready,” I announce a little shyly.
Unsurprisingly, Dante is the first to grab a plate and get in the line that is forming. He only adds two pieces of sausage and one biscuit, and I frown when he scoops up a small portion of the eggs. Does he not like breakfast food? There’s not much Dante turns down, but I haven’t really seen him eat much in the morning. We’re all usually rushing out the door for school.
Walking over he extends the plate to me, his eyes a little wide. I take the dish as my mouth falls open—he made this for me? He doesn’t say anything, just grins down at me before turning back to grab another plate.
They scrape the egg pan empty and not a morsel of sausage remains. I should have made double. I’m not used to cooking for so many, especially since my mom barely ate enough to stay alive. The kitchen remained fairly quiet as we ate and Mia’s presence in the doorway a few minutes into the meal forced some light conversation.
After she arrives, I keep my eyes on my plate for the most part, still unsure how I should feel about her. My head tells me I should feel sorry for her, I know she has feelings for Ares—hell, maybe even for all of them—but the other part of me, it may be my heart or something else, tells me to keep her away from what’s mine.
I all but growl when she leans her elbow on the island next to Dante. Everyone at the island looks over at me and I can’t even pretend it wasn’t me. Dante, for his part, gets a small satisfied grin on his lips, and he looks down at his plate then back up at me. Mia looks around like she can’t believe no one is going to say anything, her pretty face in a deep frown.
I lower my head. I don’t know what it is about Dante that makes me so crazy. I don’t think I would have acted the same if she was next to Milo, or even Ares for that matter. There’s something about him that brings out a different side of me, and I’m not sure I understand yet. “Sorry,” I mouth the words to him so no one else will hear. He shrugs his shoulder while still sporting the grin.
Milo leans over, looking past Mia and Dante, to me, and Ares on my other side. “Are we staying in Columbia tonight, or coming back here?”
“It’s up to you,” Ares answers without looking up, taking on the role of the leader.
“Do you want to stay?” I ask Milo, he turns to Ollie on his other side.
“We could, but it’s up to you,” Ollie offers. I stand up from my stool, taking mine and Ares’s plates since they’re already empty to the sink. A quick rinse and I shelf them in the dishwasher, and then I place my rump on the front of the sink, crossing my arms over my middle.
I’m trying very hard to ignore the fact that Mia is here, listening to our conversation, when she asks, “You guys are going to Columbia?”
Ollie slaps a hand on Milo’s back. “This guy has some fancy ass football banquet tonight. We’re just tagging along.”
My nerves are frayed and I look over at the clock noting the time. I really need to get into the shower, and I also need to know what to wear and whether I need to pack. I tip my chin down and look at the floor, waiting until I have an answer, or for Mia to leave so I can ask. Pursing my lips, I peek over at Ares. He’s already dressed for the day, but he’s not much help. He usually always wears slacks and a button-down—the only exception is when he’s at home relaxing.
“I’m going to grab a shower,” I say over the guys’ conversation, still debating if we’re going to come back home tonight. Ares stands immediately with his eyes on mine. He opens his mouth but looks over at Mia, whose eyes are glued to him. His brow furrows as he brings his hand up over his mouth.
“I need to grab a few things, I’ll come with,” Milo states, surprising me, before taking his plate to the sink and setting it down.
Ares’s eyes narrow on Milo’s back before he glances at his brother and Ollie. His mouth pops open and he mumbles, “Let me know what you guys decide so I can make arrangements.” Then he strides out the door before any of us can beat him to it.
Mia stares in his direction long after I know he’s gone, her brows pinched together as she bites the corner of her nail. Focusing on Milo she tilts her head, before she gives a doe-eyed expression. “I love Columbia, mind if I tag along too?”
Dante chokes on the bite he just shoveled into his mouth. I round the bar and pat his back as he coughs. “Oh um, I’m not even sure we’re staying yet, and we’re meeting up with my family,” Milo stammers.
Mia’s face twists into a wry grin. “Oh that’d be perfect. You guys don’t mind, do you?” Her voice comes out almost like a whine. I roll my eyes, ready for this show to be over. Ares is the smart one, he got out of dodge.
“I’m going,” I deadpan before anyone can form a response. Milo’s eyes go wide, like he can’t believe I’m leaving him to handle this. I shake my head at him, he can handle it, he a big boy.
